A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Breaking down Spaz's new hires

BC and Spaziani finally announced two of his hires. They are Sean Devine and Dave Brock. Neither are household names, but I think both look to be very good hires. Here is my breakdown of the additions:

Offensive Line: Sean DevineWhat he brings to the table: A great combination of youth, New England roots and an understanding of zone blocking. There was much speculation if BC would undue the system Jags and Bick implemented at the Heights. Not only is Devine of the Chip Kelly school of using zone -- he also teaches it at coaching clinics.Connection to Spaz: I don't know if he has an immediate connection to Spaz, but the New England college football scene is a pretty small. I imagine Devine has been around BC for camps or Pro Days. I assume the conduit to the relationship was Ryan Day -- who played and coached at UNH.Connection to BC: No prior connection.Question marks: How will he work with Tranquill? Will Tranquill let him teach O Line how he wants? Where will he recruit? Does he have any recruiting connections outside of New England? Overall Assessment: I really like this hire. It helps that he has a prior relationship with Day. I think those sorts of connections and recommendations are good indicators of Devine's ability and potential to fit in. It seems like he is a good teacher. If he can hit the road and recruit, this could be a very promising addition.

Tight Ends: Dave BrockWhat he brings to the table: Another recruiter who has worked the northeast and recruited to ACC schools.Connection to Spaz: None that I know of, but he did work with Tranquill at North Carolina.Connection to BC: No prior connection.Question marks: What is his experience with Tight Ends? How will he handle the transition from OC back to being just a position coach? Can he recruit at a school like BC?Overall Assessment: Not to diminish any position on the staff, but Tight Ends Coach is low risk. You can piggy back off the rest of the offense and get to work with some of the more versatile/coachable guys on the team. In that sense Brock is overqualified. The real question is recruiting. He has experience, but I don't know what territory he will cover or how he will adjust to recruiting at a place like BC. Overall, I think he will be a good addition.

The Tranquill hire caught people off guard. These two were much more in line with what Spaz should be doing. They are outsiders who will bring in new ideas, yet they have connections to current staffers which should make the transition that much easier. I feel like both of these guys will be welcome and productive at BC.

I assume the Tight Ends coach gets to work with the O-Line, since the tight ends work a lot with the O-line... so that should help, since a former OC would think of the offense as one whole unit, the way a quarterback does. TEs coach probably also instructs WRs, too.

Clearly it won't be up to him, but I hope the new TE coach can restore the position to its traditional (and formerly very succesful) role as a receiver rather than just a sixth blocker as it was under Logan.